Ed Sheeran weaves Persian music into new song, Azizam    Rain expected in Makkah and Jeddah on Saturday    Al-Jadaan: Crown Prince's directives confirm government's ability to bring back balance to real estate market    China retaliates against Trump's trade war with 34% reciprocal tariffs on US goods    Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli escalation, targeting of civilians and Saudi warehouse in Gaza    Danish PM dismisses US desire to annex Greenland 'You cannot annex another country'    Macron lashes out against Trump's 'brutal' tariffs, calls for a pause in investment    Saudi Crown Prince, Iranian president discuss regional developments in Eid phone call    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    New Laws of Commercial Registration and Trade Names take effect on Thursday    New fleet of 76 public transport buses starts operation in Jeddah on Tuesday Environmentally friendly electric buses introduced for first time    Foreign investors are allowed to engage in real estate business outside Makkah and Madinah Commercial speculation should not be the purpose of real estate transaction    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Cristiano Ronaldo joins Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Swedish table tennis legend Jörgen Persson appointed head coach of Saudi national team    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



US defence officials present mixed picture on Afghanistan
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 07 - 11 - 2009


US officials speaking about the future US
role in Afghanistan Saturday presented a mixed image of US policy
plans for further engagement in the wartorn country, , according to dpa.
White House national security adviser General James Jones voiced
strong scepticism about boosting troop levels in Afghanistan, warning
that the conflict could "swallow them up," the German weekly Der
Spiegel reported in its latest edition.
However, Michele Flournoy, US undersecretary of defence, said in
Brussels, after consultations with nations participating in
international military efforts in Afghanistan, that the US is
"increasing its commitment" to the country.
The Obama administration has been reviewing the situation for
weeks as the public mood against the operation in Afghanistan turns
sour, despite President Barack Obama having made stabilizing
Afghanistan a priority during his presidential campaign.
In his interview, Jones was commenting on requests by General
Stanley McChrystal, commander of international forces in Afghanistan,
for a further 40,000 soldiers in the face of the battle against
resurgent Taliban militants.
"Generals always ask for more troops. Take it from me," Jones, who
is President Barack Obama"s national security adviser, said in
remarks carried Saturday on Spiegel"s online site.
"I believe we will not solve the problem with troops alone. The
minimum number is important, of course. But there is no maximum
number, however," he argued.
"You can keep on putting troops in, and you could have 200,000
troops there and Afghanistan will swallow them up as it has done in
the past," Jones added in remarks certain to heat up the debate in
the US about the best strategy course for the Afghan conflict.
In the Spiegel interview, Jones argued that instead of engaging in
so-called nation-building by the foreign forces, responsibility must
be transferred as soon as possible to Afghanistan.
"We need a better plan with the allies to gradually turn over
responsibility for the country to Afghan institutions and
organizations in as short a time as possible," he said.
Flournoy said that a decision out of the US on troop levels would
be coming in "a couple or maybe a few weeks," according to a
transcript of comments provided by the US mission to NATO.
"We"re really fine tuning our thinking on how best to achieve our
core goals and how to work closely with our allies and our partners
to do so," she said. "No one is talking about leaving Afghanistan or
even standing pat.
"We are increasing our commitment and we"re talking about how best
to do that with both civilian and military resources."
In his interview, Jones said he did not know when troop
withdrawals might be possible.
"I don"t know when that will be. But I do know that our president
and other leaders are very insistent on doing everything that we can
to make sure that it happens sooner rather than later. That we can in
fact, begin to turn over responsibility to the Afghans."
Spiegel said Jones, in the interview, emphasized several times
that it was now time for Kabul to take care of the country.
"If they want the promise of a democratic society and peace and
stability, better opportunities for their children then this
government and all of the governors have to do a much better job than
they have done so far," he said.
Flournoy said she was in Brussels to share ideas with allies in
Afghanistan on how to proceed in the campaign there. She said she had
gathereed "a lot of good ideas" and was going to take them back to
Washington for consultation.
"This is a team effort and we needed to have their input in our
decision-making process," she said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.